THE SPORT OF ROWING Cornell, Lane 3 San Diego Rowing Club, and Lane 4 Bachelors Barge. The New York Times: “The oarsman today found the ordinarily peaceful course whipped up by gusty winds. All through the afternoon the breeze blew almost dead up- stream from the southwest, but with an angle that made steering almost as much of a prob- lem as the rowing itself.”1961 “There was a fairly even start, and the crews came up to the turn at Strawberry Bridge well bunched, except that Bachelors had been blown pretty well over and were out of things there. “Cornell came through the bridge with a slight margin to spare, but the Penn A.C. four, with Mack steering an excellent course to take full advantage of the inside lane, bore down and almost immediately went into a lead. “Cornell, rowing very well, hung on un- til Peter’s Island was reached, with San Die- go dropping slowly away, but in the lee of the island the Penn A.C. oarsmen put on their final burst and went away to win by about a length and become the first members of this year’s Olympic rowing squad.”1962 The Big Eight was the next Penn A.C. boat to compete, but their race was only for the National Championship. The boat was almost unchanged from 1931. Latimer Lawrence from the Second Eight had moved up in place of Myrlin Jaynes in the 5-seat, and Penn Quaker George Loveless had taken over the coxswain’s seat. The New York Times: “Leading through most of the course, and with open water showing for a good part of the last mile of the race, the Pennacs won from the Detroit Boat Club by almost ten seconds, spacing well at a beat of 40 strokes per minute at the finish with a fine, even run on their shell. “The winners had the inside lane, and George Loveless, the old Penn coxswain, steered a dead true course.”1963 On the following day, the Olympic cox- less-four was chosen, and with continuing windy conditions and no coxswains, it was a messy affair, the first attempt being called back after a collision just before the bridge. On the second attempt, the Penn A.C. rowing a straight course won by 1.2 seconds over a wandering but fast-closing Detroit boat. The winning crew included Tom Pi- erie from the 1931 Second Eight and new- comers Edgar Johnson, George Mattson and John McCusker. All the Small-Boat Trials had again been won by Philadelphia crews, with the Penn A.C. winning both fours and the single with 5’10” 178cm 174lb. 79kg Bill Miller. By the end of the weekend, ten Penn A.C. athletes were already qualified for Long Beach, and the Eights Trials were yet to come. In addition, Muller pupils Ken Myers and Garrett Gilmore1964 of Bachelors Barge Club won the Olympic Doubles Tri- als. Special thanks to John B. Kelly III for permission to reproduce images from the remarkable Kelly family film archive. What a tragedy it would have been if the trans- cendent beauty of Jack Kelly’s sculling stroke had been lost to future generations. 1961 Robert F. Kelley, Ten Rowing Titles Go to Philadelphia, The New York Times, July 3, 1932 1962 Ibid. 1963 Ibid. 1964 See Chapter 56. 530
